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'''Yu Takasaki'''<ref>https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1261204932490932224</ref> is the primary protagonist in ''[[Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club]]''. She is a second-year student at [[Nijigasaki High School]]. She is the manager and founder (and later honorary school idol) of [[Nijigasaki High School Idol Club|Nijigaku]]. Her image color is black.

She also served as the adaptation's representation of [[Anata|the player character]] in ''[[Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS]]''.

==Background==
Yu is the budding school idol enthusiast of Nijigasaki High School, and is often seen with her characteristic thigh-high socks and twin-tails tips dyed green. She is [[Ayumu Uehara]]'s inseparable childhood friend, having grown up as neighbors in the same apartment building near Odaiba. Eventually, the two of them ended up at Nijigasaki together and are now classmates. Yu's love for school idols blossomed after seeing a performance of the legendary school idol, [[Setsuna Yuki]]. Along with Ayumu, Yu's very first experience of school idols that day would lead her to seek out Nijigasaki's School Idol Club.

==Personality==
Yu adopted a lot of the player character's personality prior to the anime. She is described as insightful, reliable, quick to take action, and very caring of the Nijigasaki idols. She is shown to have a deep passion for idols, which inspires her goals and actions just like her game counterpart.

She's shown to be very kind, empathetic and sociable, easily creating bonds with others. She has a passionate and charismatic nature, which easily attracts others. However, her passion for music and putting her efforts in it sometimes makes her neglect her schoolwork.

== Appearance ==
Yu has a slim figure with medium-length black hair with green tips that she has tied into twintails and has green eyes.

==Songs==
The songs featuring Yu are:

<center><tabber>
Nijigasaki =
<poem>
[[Wachu Gonna Do]]
[[Radio Taisou Dai Ichi (Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Ver.)]]
</poem>
</tabber></center>

==Chronology==
<tabber>
Season I=
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" align="center"
! scope="col" style="width:10%;text-align:center;"|'''Ep.'''
! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|'''Title'''
! scope="col" style="width:25%;text-align:center;"|'''Air Date'''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''01'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[The First Thrill]]"<br />|はじまりのトキメキ|"Hajimari no Tokimeki"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|October 3, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''02'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Cutest♡Girl]]"<br />|Cutest♡ガール|"Cutest♡Gāru"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|October 10, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''03'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Shout Out Your Love]]"<br />|大好きを叫ぶ|"Daisuki o Sakebu"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|October 17, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''04'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[The Uncharted Path]]"<br />|未知なるミチ|"Michi Naru Michi"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|October 24, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''05'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Something I Can Only Do Right Now]]"<br />|今しかできないことを|"Ima Shika Dekinai Koto o"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|October 31, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''06'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[The Shape of Smiles (〃＞▽＜〃)‎‎]]"<br />|笑顔のカタチ(〃＞▽＜〃)|"Egao no Katachi (〃＞▽＜〃)"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|November 7, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''07'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Haruka, Kanata, and Beyond]]"<br />|ハルカカナタ|"Haruka Kanata"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|November 14, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''08'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Shizuku, Monochrome]]"<br />|しずく、モノクローム|"Shizuku, Monokurōmu"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|November 21, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''09'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Friends but Rivals]]"<br />|仲間でライバル|"Nakama de Raibaru"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|November 28, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''10'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Summer Begins.]]"<br />|夏、はじまる。|"Natsu, Hajimaru."}}
| style="text-align:center;"|December 5, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''11'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Everyone's Dream, My Dream]]"<br />|みんなの夢、私の夢|"Minna no Yume, Watashi no Yume"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|December 12, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''12'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Blossoming Feelings]]"<br />|花ひらく思い|"Hanahiraku Omoi"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|December 19, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"| <!--Chronology here-->
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''13'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[School Idol Festival (The Place Where Everyone's Dreams Come True)]]"<br />|スクールアイドルフェスティバル（みんなの夢を叶える場所）|"Sukūru Aidoru Fesutibaru (Minna no Yume o Kanaeru Basho)"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|December 26, 2020
|-
| colspan="3"|
|-
|-
|-|
Season II=
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" align="center"
! scope="col" style="width:10%;text-align:center;"|'''No.'''
! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|'''Title'''
! scope="col" style="width:25%;text-align:center;"|'''Air Date'''
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''1'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[A Brand New Thrill]]"<br />|新しいトキメキ|"Atarashii Tokimeki"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|April 2, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''2'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Overlapping Colors]]"<br />|重なる色|"Kasanaru Iro"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|April 9, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''3'''
| "[[sing! song! smile!]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|April 16, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''4'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Ai Love Triangle]]"<br />|アイ|"Love Triangle"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|April 23, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''5'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Dreamland_Is_Now_Open!↑↑（＊%27▽%27）|Dreamland Is Now Open!↑↑（＊'▽'）]]"<br />|開幕!ドリームランド↑↑（＊'▽'）|"Kaimaku! Dorīmurando↑↑（＊'▽'）"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|April 30, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''6'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Choose Your "Love"]]"<br />|“大好き”の選択を|"'Daisuki' no Sentaku o"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|May 7, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''7'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[The Memory of Dreams]]"<br />|夢の記憶|"Yume no Kioku"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|May 14, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''8'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[TOKIMEKI Runners (The Place Where the Rainbow Begins)]]"<br />|虹が始まる場所|"Niji ga Hajimari Basho"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|May 21, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''9'''
| "[[The Sky I Can't Reach]]"
| style="text-align:center;"|May 28, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''10'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Kasumin☆Wonder Tour]]"<br />|かすみん☆ワンダーツアー|""}}
| style="text-align:center;"|June 4, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''11'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[The Past, the Future, and Now]]"<br />|過去・未来・イマ|"Kako, Mirai, Ima"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|June 11, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''12'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Cheer!]]"<br />|エール！|"Eru!"}}
| style="text-align:center;"|June 18, 2022
|-
| colspan="3"| 
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|'''13'''
| {{Nihongo|"[[Let This Thrill Resonate—.]]"<br />|響け! ときめき—.|"Hibike! Tokimeki—."}}
| style="text-align:center;"|June 25, 2022
|-
|}
</tabber>

== Etymology ==

* The name '''Yu'''  is a widely used unisex name in Japan. It can be assigned various different kanji characters. 侑 means "urge to eat" but It is not named with that meaning.
* Yu's surname '''Takasaki''' means "tall, high" (高) ('''taka''') and "blossom" (咲) ('''saki''').
* '''Takasaki''' is a common surname in Japan, but the character "咲" (saki) is rare. '''高咲''' is a fictional surname that doesn't exist in reality.

==Trivia and Notes==
===General===
*Prior to the reveal of her name, the character was nicknamed "'''Anata''' (あなた)", which literally means "You".
**This also results in a recurring joke of the fans designating Yu as a fictionalized version of themselves, generally referring to her as "We/Our/Us".
*Unlike the other Nijigaku members, Yu does not have entries for four of the official statistics: three sizes, birth date, horoscope sign, and blood type.
*The meaning of her name (高咲 侑) was given by a fan, who chose the 高 kanji because of [[Honoka Kosaka|Kousaka]] (高坂) and [[Chika Takami|Takami]] (高海). 咲 is because she comes from Nijigasaki. 侑 is because as it is written, "Anata" means "You". It sounds like "Yu", which could also mean "to help" which fits Yu's personality and role as the club's manager.
*Unlike the player character who is initially enrolled in the music course, Yu is initially enrolled in the general curriculum course before she applied for the music course. Yu is also missing the electronic keyboard in her room where the player character had placed it until [[Everyone's Dream, My Dream]], in which she mentioned that she has been practicing a lot.
**Yu briefly plays the piano in [[Shout Out Your Love]]. However, not until [[Summer Begins.|Summer Begins]] and [[Blossoming Feelings]] did she show proficiency in playing it.
**Yu plays a snippet of [[Yume ga Koko Kara Hajimaru yo]] in Blossoming Feelings' post-credits scene, which ended up being a song in [[School Idol Festival (The Place Where Everyone's Dreams Come True)]]. This implies that Yu will be adopted as the club's song composer much like her game counterpart, until recent episodes confirms it.
*Like [[Honoka Kosaka]] and [[Chika Takami]], Yu also wears a shirt with a Japanese character, though it was used on her childhood. However, unlike the two, the character in question is not the first syllable of her name ("'''Yu''' / ゆ"). Instead, it says "'''Pa''' (ぱ)".
*Yu is the only main character to not have an official birthday. This is mostly because her game counterpart's birthday is defined by the player in ALL STARS. However, some fans have regarded her unofficial birthday to be January 29, as it is the day when her design was unveiled to the public.
*While she has been featured in several merchandises such as ''Gyugyutto'' keychain, the Movic plush, and the [https://p-bandai.jp/item/item-1000158243/ AQUA SHOOTERS! figure], it wasn't until July 2022 when a scale figurine of Yu was released: [https://twitter.com/wave_corp/status/1551009497052618752 this one, manufactured by Wave].
**The ''Chobirume'' figurine of Yu Takasaki by FuRyu features the anime version of the bowtie, making her seemingly inconsistent with the previous waves' figurines with the game version of the tie.
*Prior to the reveal of the second visual and her voiced appearance, some fans speculated whether Yu's energetic personality is merely an informed attribute since she is shown to have an emotionless expression on her design, even though she is said to be enthusiastic as written in the description.
* There's speculation regarding Yu's image color: as black is the absence of color and cannot be used as a lightstick color. This was likely meant to represent her role as a supporter rather than being a school idol.
*Hinaki Yano's line "I can't just choose one! (ヒトリナンテエラベナイヨー!, Hitori dake nante erabenai yo!)" in the pre-Episode airing live streams has led fans to view it as her signature quote, or even as her "call-and-response". While this was [https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1390864030659584007 officially acknowledged] by the official staff in a 3-panel comic for the 3rd Live, and canonized in ''Nijiyon Animation'', the line is not referenced in the anime's main timeline.
**Prior to being canonized, the 9th part of ''[[Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS]]''<nowiki/>' Chapter 25 features a coincidental reference to that meme, as the player responded to Karin that "I can't choose that either." as the latter asked who's the number one.
**This line would eventually be used as Hinaki's official call-and-response in the [[Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Nijitabi! TOKIMEKI FAN MEETING TOUR]] concert.
* Japanese fans online have mixed reactions to the possibility of Yu ever becoming an idol. On one hand, some would like to see her voice actress sing and dance live, while others argue that taking away Yu's role as a manager would simply "rehash" the plot from the previous Love Live! shows, rather than bring something fresh and new to the series. But many are at least open to the idea of having a character song released.<ref>[http://lovelivematocha.com/blog-entry-20562.html Love Live! Matome Channel]. "On Yu-chan Becoming an Idol: Yes or No?"</ref>
**The [[Let This Thrill Resonate—.|13th episode of the anime's second season]] reveals that she's labelled as a "School Idol" by the rest of the girls.
***In the same episode, two scenes of her playing the piano for the [[Future Parade]] segment showed her mouth had some slight movements, implying that she was inaudibly whispering several portions of the chorus, as this method actually helps her to keep track of where they are in the song.
*Despite not being a member of NijiGaku, Yu is featured in a NijiGaku [[Wachu Gonna Do|group song]].

===Appearances in illustrated media===
As she doesn't appear in the ''ALL-STARS'' illustrations due to being a separate character from her original counterpart, Yu only appears in illustrations and other published media that is tied with the anime timeline.
*The poster for the 11th volume of the ''Love Live! Days'' magazine, drawn by Mebachi, features Yu as part of the group.
*Yu [[:File:Odaiba-Tokimeki-Stamp-Rally-4koma-Yu-cameo.jpg|appears as a cameo in a chapter of a 4koma]] drawn by Miyako Hito, as part of the huge display 4komas for the Odaiba Tokimeki Stamp Rally. While the comics' art style are the same as the ''Nijiyon'' 4komas, the stories' continuity took place in the Anime timeline, as the ribbons on the girls' uniforms are slightly different to separate from their original ''ALL-STARS'' counterparts.
*Yu also appears in the illustrations for the "Rainbow Days" Honest Photo Essay Series, which also takes place in the anime timeline.
**The [https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1487803566048034817 cover for the 4th novel] also had Yu being drawn in the original ''School Idol Festival ALL-STARS'' art style.
*The visuals for the ''[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EypdsofU4AA1k2O.jpg Dengeki Clear File Magazine <PASSION> Love Live! Nijigaku]'' book and [https://twitter.com/shizukuharumaki/status/1381490456198967299 the Suntory collab] that features Yu are drawn in a style blurring between the ''ALL-STARS'' (notably the eyes) and the TV Anime art aesthetic.
*The ''[[Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 3rd Live! School Idol Festival ~Yume no Hajimari~]]'' concert:
**Yu [https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1387602538992570374 appears in the one-panel comics] for the [[Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 3rd Live! School Idol Festival ~Yume no Hajimari~]] concert, also drawn by Miyako, serving as both the introduction of the 9 School Idols and the concert's countdown.
***The Miyako-styled Yu eventually appears in full body for the [https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1390864030659584007 3-panel comic] promoting the first day of the concert.
**The giveaway brochure had one of the illustrations featuring Yu, with her [[:File:SIFAS-Styled-Yu.png|being drawn in entirely the style of the classic ''Love Live!'' Series/''School Idol Festival ALL-STARS'' game]].
**She also appears in the concert's (anime-oriented) chibi intermission drama, making this her first official debut to the series.
*Yu was also included in the [https://cafe.gge-collabo.com/history/top/nijigasaki04.html SEGA's "LIVE with a smile!" collaboration], appearing on the drink and food coasters.

===The Player's Identity===
Even though she is the anime equivalent of the ''[[Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS]]'' player, there is a debate about whether she is the '''''true''''' POV protagonist of the game, as many English-speaking players commonly inferred the player as '''her''' (mainly due to the international version of the game ''explicitly'' refers to the player character as such by other characters) though her unique personality may clash with the player's featureless characteristic. 

*The original Japanese version of the game and the books such as the kizuna comics refers to the player character as "あの子", it can also imply “that girl” or “that boy". The word "子" has more of a feminine implication (as lots of girls' names end in 子), so it's often translated to as “that girl.”
*It's noted that the usage of "She/Her" in the global version is mainly due to the translation team's choice to not use gender-neutral pronouns in an English-speaking perspective, and that Nijigasaki High is presumably an all-girls school so it would not make sense if a male POV character attended the school.
*While the player's true appearance remains officially undisclosed after the release of the game's final chapter on May 30, 2023 and the game's closure on June 30, 2023, there are several hints of the player's true gender in this game:
**In the 17th episode of Nozomi's Bond Story (SIFAS), Nozomi, Rin, Umi and the player character went to the Uranohoshi High School. However, Dia caught the four of them sneaking around and she mentioned afterwards that the whole school was talking about a suspicious group of '''four girls'''.
**The 20th episode for Dia's Bond Stories, however; Shows [https://idol.st/allstars/still/235/Still-Kurosawa-Dia/ two] [https://idol.st/allstars/still/236/Still-Kurosawa-Dia/ stills] of a hand holding a donut in the player's POV, with the lighter skin ultimately indicates that the player character is ''canonically '''female'''''.
*The drink and food coasters for the [https://animestari.com/lovelive/2021/12/20/sega-live-with-a-smile/ SEGA's "LIVE with a smile!" collaboration] also features Yu as part of the artwork. Unless it's a case of artist inconsistency, this ''may'' possibly indicate the POV player's true identity as Yu herself, as artwork of Lanzhu and Mia for this collab were shown in their video game hairstyles. 
*The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-nqLQoBBc "Yu-Sanpo" segment for the NijiGaku Fan Disc] had a game-based bowtie on Hinaki's uniform, though the chibi art of Yu still retains the Anime-styled bowtie.
*On January 3, 2023, it was revealed that Yu is set to appear in the ''[[Love Live! School idol festival 2 MIRACLE LIVE!]]'' game, complete with the bowtie seen in the anime. She is also confirmed to be a separate character from the game's player character (where they're depicted as a member of the Newspaper Club).
*Like the Japanese version of the game, the international release of the ''[[TOKIMEKI Roadmap to Future]]'' game refers to the player as gender neutral.

==Gallery==
:''Please refer to this character's [[Yu Takasaki/Image Gallery|Image Gallery]].''

==References==
<references />